WL wants to keep all TIF assessed value

There’s no fat in West Lafayette’s five tax increment finance districts.

The West Lafayette Redevelopment Commission declared that its TIF districts could not spare any of the assessed value because it needs all of the revenue it generates.

Jim Treat, an accountant with O.W. Krohn & Associates, explained that when a TIF district is created, the property’s assessed value is frozen for the purposes of collecting revenue for township, city and county governments, school capital funds and libraries. That’s the property’s base, and any increases in the assessed value over that base is collected as revenue for TIF districts, which is used to improve infrastructure and make improvements that lure developers.

State law now requires that redevelopment commissions review the TIF districts and declare whether or not it a portion of the assessed value can be returned to the tax rolls.

“We’re very confident we’re going to be needing all of the funds we’re going to be using,” Treat said as he advised the commission to approve a resolution indicating that none of the assessed value would be passed through.

The state, Treat explained, has been tightening down on TIF districts because some government entities misused them. Treat said property tax caps have left some Hoosier cities looking for untapped revenue streams.

Commission President Larry Oates noted that West Lafayette has used TIF districts since 1989. The West Side was one of the first cities to take advantage of the financing tactic, which it used to develop Purdue Research Park, Oates said. The commission has been responsible and transparent in its use of TIF, he said.